Public Transit Rally Held On Beacon Hill

Public transportation advocates called on Governor Charlie Baker and the MBTA to bring more transparency when it comes to safety and maintenance issues Thursday morning.

Groups including Livable Streets Alliance and the Transit is Essential Coalition held a rally outside the State House in response to several recent incidents at various stations, including the derailment at Broadway on the Red Line.

Elected officials, including Somerville Mayor Joe Curtatoni, spoke on Beacon Hill.

“We need to call out elected officials like me when we’re not doing our job,” he said. “We need to stand up.”

Stacy Thompson was among the organizers and said changes need to be made.

“We need our elected officials to take accountability, safety and funding seriously so that we can get the ‘t’ back on track,” she said. “Most importantly bring trust back, which we had been building with the previous control board.”

Advocates said a new MBTA governing board is a good start to get things on track.